chapter 5: Midnight visitor

Cassian POV

I knew I shouldn't have come here.

But I was never good at staying away from what intrigued me. And Orion Drevenhart—Omega or not—was a storm wrapped in silk. All quiet fire and barely bridled control.

He opened the door like he was debating whether to let me live.

He stepped back like his body had moved before his brain agreed.

And now, sitting here in his suite, I could still smell the faint, fading trace of what he truly was beneath all those chemical walls.

Omega.

But more than that—something… mine.

Not fully. Not yet. I just needed a confirmation from my wolf.

But the pull was there. Subtle. Incomplete.

Like hearing a song you once loved but forgetting the words.

---

He stood by the window —always at a distance. Like the skyline could anchor him better than people could.

I said the things I’d been holding back in that boardroom. That I’d felt his instincts. That he wasn’t broken, no matter what he’d been told.

Didn’t run this time.

The truth was I wasn't trying to help only him, I wanted to help us both.

---

I should’ve left after that. Said my piece.

Instead, I found myself still sitting on the edge of his couch while he leaned against the window, the city light casting half his face in shadow.

“I wasn’t supposed to be heir,” he said finally, voice soft. “They wanted my father’s legacy to end with him. Not pass to… me.”

“Because you’re an Omega,” I said.

He nodded once. “Here in the south Omegas don’t lead.”

“Says who?”

He looked at me, then away. “Everyone.”

I studied him carefully. “You’re doing it anyway.”

“That’s the thing.” He turned toward me slowly. “I’m not leading. I’m surviving. They make the decisions. I wear the crown.”

“Puppet king,” I said quietly.

His mouth twitched. “You understand more than you let on.”

I shrugged. “I’ve worn chains before. Not all of them are visible.”

---

The silence between us thickened—heavy, charged. But not hostile.

I didn’t know why I wanted to touch him.

Maybe it was the subtle rise and fall of his chest.

Maybe it was how carefully he kept himself together, like one wrong move would shatter him.

Or maybe it was the scent beneath the layers of false Beta masks. The hint of something that didn’t just call to my instincts…

It called to me.

But I didn’t reach for him.

Not yet.

Instead, I stood.

He straightened as I approached, and for a second, I saw it. That flicker of fear he tried to mask. His fists clenched. His jaw locked.

“I’m not here to break you, Orion,” I said.

His eyes snapped to mine. “Then why are you here?”

I looked at him. Really looked.

“The North doesn’t need this merger. But I came anyway. For you.”

He blinked. “What?”

“I didn’t know what I’d find, but the moment you walked into that boardroom last year at the Summit, I knew something wasn’t right.”

“That was over a year ago.”

“I’ve been watching. Waiting.”

His throat moved in a tight swallow. “You’re insane.”

“Probably.”

He turned his back to me. “You don’t know me.”

“Then let me.”

His reflection in the glass was still. For a moment, I thought he’d shut me out again.

But then, quietly—

“I don’t know if I can.”

---

Orion — POV

I hated how easy it was to let him stay.

Cassian Vale had walked into my life with the confidence of someone who could burn it all down and still make you thank him for the warmth.

And part of me—some buried, treacherous part—wanted to let him.

We stood in silence again, his presence stretching across the room like gravity. I felt tethered to it.

“I’m tired,” I said.

It was the only truth I could give him.

He nodded. Didn’t press.

“I’ll go,” he said.

But he didn’t move.

Not until I did.

I walked him to the door without another word. Not because I wanted him gone—but because if I let him stay another second, I’d do something I couldn’t take back.

Like telling him everything about my life.

To hold me.

To tell me I wasn’t as alone as I’d been made to feel.

---

After the door clicked shut behind him, I sank into the couch and let my head fall back.

My wolf was stirring again.

Restless. Awake.

Drawn to something it couldn’t name.

And in the silence of my apartment, with the scent of Cassian still clinging faintly to the air, I asked the question I had never dared to ask myself out loud—

> What if I’m not just drawn to him…

What if I’m his?